Question: Merging
The task of sifting through questions from the Webinar, feedback form, and blog continues. I have noted that a number of questions surround the merging capability. The latest patch that is being worked on addresses some merging performance issues. I’m estimating that patch will be available in another 2 to 3 weeks.
Here are some common merging related questions I’ve encountered:
Does the .jpg of the census get pulled in from the Ancestry web site when we merge a census record?
Yes. By default the image is merged unless you uncheck the “Media” option at the top of the “Merge Summary” page in the “Web Merge Wizard”.
Can I merge sources? How do you merge duplicates?
You cannot merge sources-citations, but if you have two source titles that you want to merge into one, you can replace one with the other in the “Manage Sources” dialog accessed from the “Edit” menu.
The program says that people and media have been merged, but when you return to the people view, you find that the Name is merged, but the source and media have not merged. Why?
When a source is created as part of a merge, the media item (if there is one) is often attached to the source not to the person. After merging you usually will not find the new media item if you look for it in the media for the person. If you go to the source that was created, the media item should be there.
When will the merge function be available in FTM 2008?
The merge function is in FTM 2008. You can access it from the File menu.
How do you delete an image file that you have merged by mistake?
Go to the Media collection by clicking on “Media” at the top of the application. Find and select the media item you want to delete and press the delete key or choose “Delete Media” from the “Media” menu.
Can documents be merged from other than ancestry?
Yes, facts, media, and notes can be merged from any website using the “Screen Clipping” feature located in the toolbar that is in the lower right-hand pane on the “Web Search” screen. With “Screen Clipping” enabled, choose the tab (Facts, Media, or Notes) corresponding to the type of data you want to capture. Then select text (for facts and notes) or click on images (media) to copy them to the lower pane. Once you have gathered what you want, click “Merge” to copy them into your tree.
I got multiple versions of a source/media - same one for each fact merged. How best to clean these up?
Delete the duplicate source/media from the “Source” or “Media” screen and then link (instead of adding a new source/media item) the desired source or media item to the desired facts.
Is it possible to merge the media file from one tree file to another tree file without merging the complete tree file?
A single media file can be linked to many trees. When you add a file to your tree, a dialog message will ask if you want to copy it to the media folder associated with your tree or if you want to leave it and link to it where it is. Choose the “Copy” option if you want each tree to have its own copy of the media item.
I hope this is helpful. Please feel free to post other merging questions as comments to this post. The feedback form is also a great tool for requesting future enhancements to the merging functionality.
Question: how do you change an individual fact to a shared fact w/o deleting one and re-entering all the data?
Question: why doesn’t a “1″ appear in the Media column for that fact when I attach a media item to the source for that fact?
Question: when I add a shared fact and use the drop down to ID the person it applies to and I choose that person, why doesn’t that name remain in the name box? However, the fact when entered ends up under the correct individual.
Problem: When I place my curser over a fact to highlight it and press the mouse button, the curser lands on another item and highlights it instead.
Problem: The program crashes once or twice during EVERY session. I get the message that it has encountered a problem and has to close.